Have you been rage baited recently?
'Rage bait' named Oxford word of the year 2025
Do you find yourself getting increasingly irate while scrolling through your social media feed?
If so, you may be falling victim to rage bait, which Oxford University Press has named its word or phrase of the year.
It is a term that describes manipulative tactics used to drive engagement online, with usage of it increasing threefold in the last 12 months, according to the dictionary publisher.
Rage bait beat two other shortlisted terms - aura farming and biohack - to win the title.
The list of words is intended to reflect some of the moods and conversations that have shaped 2025.
What is rage bait?
Even if you don't know the term, if you're a social media user, it's quite likely you have been rage baited.
According to Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, it is defined as online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative, or offensive.
Such content is typically posted in order to increase traffic to websites or social media accounts.
It is similar to its internet cousin clickbait, where a headline is used to lure a reader in to view an article or video.
But rage bait content has a more specific focus on making people cross.
What do the other shortlisted words mean?
- Aura farming: The cultivation of an impressive, attractive, or charismatic persona or public image by behaving or presenting oneself in a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness, or mystique.
- Biohack: To attempt to improve or optimise one's physical or mental performance, health, longevity, or wellbeing by altering one's diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle, or by using other means such as drugs, supplements, or technological devices.
The three shortlisted words were put to a public vote, the results of which helped to guide the final decision taken by OUP's language experts.
"The fact that the word rage bait exists and has seen such a dramatic surge in usage means we're increasingly aware of the manipulation tactics we can be drawn into online," said Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages.
"Before, the internet was focused on grabbing our attention by sparking curiosity in exchange for clicks, but now we've seen a dramatic shift to it hijacking and influencing our emotions, and how we respond.
"It feels like the natural progression in an ongoing conversation about what it means to be human in a tech-driven world - and the extremes of online culture."
Last year's word of the year, brain rot, captured the mental drain of mindless scrolling on Instagram or TikTok.
Mr Grathwohl said both 2024 and 2025's winners have a similar theme.
"Together, they form a powerful cycle where outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted," he said.
Previous Oxford words of the year have included selfie, goblin mode and rizz.
Cambridge Dictionary has declared parasocial its word of 2025, which it defined as a relationship felt by someone between themselves and a famous person they do not know.
Its examples include the interest displayed by fans when pop star Taylor Swift and American footballer Travis Kelce announced their engagement.
Meanwhile, Collins Dictionary went for vibe coding, which is the art of making an app or website by describing it to artificial intelligence rather than by writing programming code manually.
Comments
The phrase of the year 2025 of Oxford University Press is rage bait. This phrase describes manipulative tactic to persuade to users online to do what they want. The system consists in anger to users and in this psychological process take advantage to make aware them. At least, with this procedure they get to increase accounts of social media and websites. But they go beyond increasing to surf through the web and therefore they are going to do you buy their products.
Mr. Casper said that there is a dramatic shift to hijack and influence our emotións in internet, but this isn´t new. Actually, in this moment, there are a lot of advertisements which intend to tell you need breathe fresh air and you must drink some kind of water, for instance. There are many companies, like firms of e-commerce, technological consultancy and so on, which treat that consumers buy which companies want. They use all tricks, feelings or disaster to make someone buy their products. The worst is that, as they said, the politic parties deceive us and we vote what they want because they use the some thicks. Even it seems that we vote what the international organizations want.
Another thing, I thought that the word o the phrase of the year was choosing by citizens not by companies and I can see that it´s a company who chooses this word o phrase. I don´t like because it´s another way to manipulate.
See you.
I'm a bit tired of The Word of the Year to be honest. Very few of them do I ever remember, with the odd exception.
The Oxford University Press word of the year for 2025 is “rage bait.” This expression describes a manipulative tactic used online to persuade users to do what others want. The system works by provoking anger in users and taking advantage of this psychological reaction to influence them. Through this method, social media accounts and websites increase their traffic. However, it goes beyond simply increasing web visits, as it can also lead users to buy products.
Mr. Casper said that there has been a dramatic shift toward hijacking and influencing our emotions on the internet, but this is nothing new. In fact, nowadays there are many advertisements that try to convince people that they need to breathe fresh air or drink a certain type of water, for example. There are many companies, such as e-commerce firms and technology consultancies, that try to make consumers buy what they want. They use every possible trick, including emotions or fear of disaster, to persuade people to purchase their products. The worst part is that, as he said, political parties also deceive us and influence how we vote by using the same techniques. It even seems that we sometimes vote according to what international organisations want.
Another point is that I thought the word or phrase of the year was chosen by citizens, not by companies, and I can see that it is a company that chooses it. I do not like this because it is another way of manipulating people.
A lot of bold this week. I had to refer to our friend to help me correct your comment because my brain is in zombie-mode.